> This "loophole" is necessary to allow certain usecases not to need a banner or opt-in at all.
This use-case was already covered by letter b) of the same Article 6.
„b) processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;“
I would argue that this loophole is for conveniency and was not a hot topic anywhere. How it used now however is a different thing.